No one would question the fact that
Michelle and I are very good friends. After all, in addition to being professional
colleagues, we did agree to travel the whole world together assuming we would
still be friends at the end. Six weeks
in: so far, so good. I haven’t tired of Michelle at all yet, not one bit. However, it is nice to have someone new to
talk to once in a while. I mean, let’s face it… all the wonderful things we’ve
seen, all the good stories I have to tell or that she has to tell and – well, we were both there!
It did not take long to start making
friends on this trip. The first ones
came along our very first night out in Bangkok. We got dressed up -- well, as
dressed up as you can get when you have four shirts to choose from -- looked at
each other and said, “Let’s go make some friends.” We went down to the common
area in our hostel to see what we could find.
And wouldn’t you know it? Right
there, right away we found three guys drinking Chang beer and, we soon learned, wondering what they were going to
do for their last evening in Bangkok.
GP – G.P. is a guy from
Canada, heading home the next day. He
had had been traveling in Thailand for two months though he admitted to
spending the majority of his time on the beaches in the south. The most
memorable thing about G.P. was the color of his skin, I’ve never seen a white
man with skin like that.
Glen and Conrad - Conrad
is a Canadian, and Glen is from Northern Ireland. These two were friends after
studying together in Australia. They
were on a break and bumming around SE Asia for awhile.
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L-R: Conrad, Michelle, Katy, G.P., Glen - note G.P.'s skin tones!
The best picture I could find from the night |
The five of us went to
eat and to celebrate our first and their last night in Bangkok. We spent the
majority of the night roaming around Khosan Road and people-watching. It was particularly interesting to observe
the dynamic change as to who approaches you in the street when you’re two girls
as compared to when you’re two girls and three guys. When we had walked down Khosan Rd earlier in
the day no one bothered us. However, when
we were walking with these three gents, they told us all about the hookers and
ladyboys approaching them seemingly all day and night. Walking with them we did get approached a
time or two, but it was nothing troublesome or threatening. It was truly more entertaining than anything
else.
That first night was a
great way to kick off our trip. The best thing about staying in guesthouses and
hostels is that they are not only incredibly affordable compared to
conventional hotels, but also the “hostel scene” makes it so easy to meet fun
people, people with great stories about their travels and about life in
general. Also, many of the people you
meet along the way have been or are headed to places you have been or are
going, and exchanging ideas and experiences makes the “go without a plan” plan
all the more fun.
Green Leaf Guest House...
After Bangkok we headed North toward
Khoi Yai National Park where we had a plan to stay at Green Leaf Guesthouse
outside the town of Pak Chong. Here we had an “all inclusive” arrangement where
we paid for a room and two daytrips into the park. Not only was the park enjoyable but, like the
hostels, it was also a great spot for making new friends. The rooms were nothing special and can only
be described as being “basic” at best.
However, the common area of this particular place was very spacious,
well lit, and set up perfectly for playing cards and just hanging out and exchanging
stories.
The first night there, Michelle and I
went out to the common area with our computers to catch up on chronicling this
trip and attempt to SKYPE with folks back home. It didn’t take five minutes for our next new
friend to emerge. We got acquainted
easily and quickly, and he joined us for dinner. His name is Pras, short for Prasanna. Pras was another Canadian. He was currently living and working in San
Francisco. He was on a short trip to
Thailand, meeting up with friends in a few random places around the country. He was at Green Leaf Guesthouse for his last
few nights in Thailand.
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| With Pras at Khao Yai |
The following day the three of us
stayed together, enjoying the park as a trio as well as among a group of about
six or eight others. That evening we
found ourselves among another, totally different, group and, as is our way, having
a very good time. The formula isn’t complicated: Chang beer, a deck of cards, a
picnic table and six happy, storytelling backpackers. This evening we were part of a great
group. We met Marijue from Belgium. Marijue was spending four months traveling
throughout SE Asia and would soon be on her way to Malaysia. Ward, from the Netherlands, was spending a
month in Thailand primarily to go diving in the south. Unfortunately he had surfaced too quickly on a
dive near the beginning of his trip resulting in two ruptured eardrums and
several days in the hospital. He wisely decided
to spend the remainder of is trip above sea level. Our group also included Tom
Russell, an Englishman. Tom was on a route
similar to mine and Michelle’s, but he was moving at a much more leisurely
pace. We did have the good fortune of
meeting up with Tom again several days later when our paths crossed in Chiang
Mai.
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If I could edit pics on my net book I would crop this so you can see everyone a little better.
At the train stop in Pak Chong. L-R: Michelle, Tom, Ward, Marijue, Pras, Katy |
The six of us boarded the same third
class (oops! 3rd class!) train to Ayutthaya. It was a hot, humid,
sweaty and yet VERY entertaining train ride.
We said goodbye to Marijue and Ward when we got to Ayutthaya as they
were continuing back to Bangkok, but Tom, Pras, Michelle and I had a very fun
day exploring the ruins of Ayutthaya.
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| With Tom and Ward on our third class train. |
We spent only the day in Auytthaua,
so we had to finally say goodbye to Pras and Tom. Quite good friends by now, saying goodbye to
these two was tough. Remember, however, Pras lives in San Francisco, and I’m
certain we’ll see him again one day. And
Tom… Tom eased the moment by reminding us that we were going to meet loads of
wonderful people along the way, and we were likely going to see him again in
Chiang Mai in a few days anyway.
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| Lunch in Ayutthaya with Pras amd Tom |
Exploring around the ruins...
Next new friend, Jesus...
I met Jesus on the sleeper train, to
Chiang Mai the morning we arrived there.
Michelle and I were in separate train cars on this ride. I think it was
the first time we had been separated for more than an hour. Anyway,
when we boarded the sleeper train around 10 pm, everyone in my “cubby”
had their privacy curtains closed and had gone to sleep. When I awoke the next morning, Jesus was
surprised to see me because, he said, when he went to sleep the night before
there had been a local in my spot!
We got to talking and discovered we
were both headed toward the same guest house in Chiang Mai. As such, we would share a tuk tuk and
probably have some lunch together. Jesus
is yet another Canadian – we’ve been meeting A LOT of Canadians and British
people during this month of travel in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. But he;s is the only Spanish speaking Canadian I have ever met. Upon getting to town we learned our intended
guesthouse was full, and the three of us ended up sharing a room at the place
next door. Jesus left Chiang Mai the next
day, but, almost unbelievably, we ran into him about a week later on the street
in Vang VIeng. If there is anything I
have learned about SE Asia, it’s that this wonderful, unforgettable place is
the biggest small town on the planet.
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With Jesus in Chiang Mai
Vang Vieng...
This place merits a little further
comment. It is a small town in
Laos. There is not a whole lot of
culture or history here. It is primarily a backpacker-oriented stop, thought by
some to be a rather cheesy place. The
main streets are lined with bars with TVs that play episodes of FRIENDS all day and night, and the
primary attraction is tubing down the Nam Song River where a secondary
attraction is the many bars along the river selling cheap beer and pouring free
and bad whiskey down your throat. Also
at these bars there’s plenty of loud music and platforms built out over the
water for dancing and socializing as well as zip lines and rope swings for
adventurous entries in to the river. We had
no intention of staying in Vang Vieng more than a day or two, but we ended up
staying for five. Why? Because of the
wonderful people we met here.
The afternoon we arrived we wandered
into the nearest FRIENDS bar to find
some dinner and try to meet some people. We wound up finding Nick and Dominic
and a whole lot of other things to do besides tubing in Vang Vieng. Nick is from England. He’s been traveling SE Asia for several
months and was on his way to Thailand to take a job and stay for an
undetermined amount of time. Dominic is
from Zurich, Switzerland. He was about three weeks into wandering about SE Asia
on a path similar to ours, but, like most everyone we encounter, at a much
slower pace. Nick and Dominic met the
day before while tubing. We spent the
next four days with these two discovering what Vang Vieng had to offer besides
tubing, such things as bike riding, kayaking, caving and, of course, hanging
out at a bar/restaurant eating dinner, playing cards and watching FRIENDS until
they invite us out at closing time.
At the start of our Kayak trip
In the caves
Stop off at the tubing bars while Kayaking
A few days later, after Nick and
Dominic had both left town, Michelle and I decided we would stay one more day
and finally see what the tubing was all about. We decided to go tubing, sans
tubes! It seemed too complicated to keep track of a tube all afternoon. We just
wanted to drink some beer and make some more friends. Besides, a few days ago we had already gone the
entire tubing route in our kayaks! We
were not in the first bar for five minutes when along came Sam and Shy. These two were from England on a short
vacation, just two weeks. They were
great. I think the reason we got along
with them so well was because they were just like us - two very good friends
traveling with just each other and just for fun. Like us they always had each other’s back and
were able to see almost any situation as a good time. Further, they went tubing with the same plan
we had -- no tubes! We four wanted just to
see what the fuss was all about, have a good time and make some new
friends. We’ll probably see Sam and Shy again in June when we’re in the UK.
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| Sam and Shy |
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Enjoying some beer Lao on a tubing bar platform
On the chicken bus we met
Justin. Justin was the first Aussie we
met. Though we did not get to know him very
well, it was nice having him around on the chicken bus, and the story he told
us about his brother is one I’ll probably tell for a long time whenever trying
to convince someone that travel insurance is 100 percent necessary.
|
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| with Justin on the Chicken bus |
Justin was on the chicken bus, on his
way back to a small medical clinic in the Middle of Nowhere, Laos. He was aiming to recover his motorbike left
outside a medical clinic where his brother was treated after being hit by a tuk
tuk in what was a very bad accident. The
people in this clinic were not properly equipped to provide the necessary
medical attention needed to treat two broken legs and a severed Achilles
tendon. Travel insurance covered the
cost of transportation for both of them to Bangkok (where Justin’s brother
could have surgery under very good medical conditions) 4-star hotel accommodations
for Justin while his brother was in the hospital and a flight back to
Australia. The insurance would have covered flights for both of them, but
Justin decided to carry on and stay in SE Asia.
I think the saddest part of the story was when Justin had to call his Mom
and explain what had happened. His
brother was the youngest of four for that poor woman.
Cambodia Friends...
On to Cambodia… On our way to Siem
Reap, we met Max and Hugo, travelers from France. After having survived a disastrous, 16-hour
bus ride with them, we all got better acquainted over Angkor beer and yellow
curry at three in the morning. We also
shared a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat with them our first evening in town. Our stay in Siem Reap was brief, so we
exchanged emails and facebook info with them, in hopes of meeting up again
Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, that didn’t
pan out, and we never heard from them again.
No answered emails and neither had posted anything on facebook since the
day we were with them. I certainly hope
they are not locked up some place abroad!
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| Max and Hugo in a Tuk Tuk to Angkor Wat |
In Phnom Penh we met Vicki. Vicki had been in Cambodia for several months
teaching English to children and adults in the southern part of the country. She had finished her teaching contract about a
week before we met her. Her plans were
to travel throughout Vietnam and Thailand before returning to England. Unfortunately, the only reason she was still
in Phnom Penh was because she had lost her ATM card several weeks ago and was
still waiting for a replacement to arrive. (Hummm… I wouldn’t know anything about a lost ATM card
while traveling! Haha! More that
later. Maybe!)
Due to her lack of funds, Vicki was unable
to accompany us on some of our excursions in Phnom Penh, but she did join us on
our lazy day at the fancy pool and for dinner several nights. She was still waiting for her card when we
left Phnom Penh. Good news
intervenes: we’re actually planning to
meet up with her again tonight. Vicki
has made it to Hanoi, and that’s where we are too!
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| With Vicki at the fancy hotel with the fancy pool |
Earlier, when we got
to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), it was not as important to “go out and
find new friends.” Why? Because we were finally going to connect with
our very good and long-time friend, Megan.
Megan is also a nurse who used to work with Michelle and me in the NICU
at Rush. She left Rush a few years ago
and is currently living in Shanghai with her husband. Living in Shanghai made it very easy to meet
us for a couple weeks in Vietnam. Poor
Megan! It was quite the lifestyle change
for her. We rather quickly hazed her
into the backpacker lifestyle. In the first two days she was with us she had to
get up at 5AM, spend the day getting coated in filth and sweat only to finally shower
in a public restroom before hopping on a sleeper bus amid creepy locals, assorted
questionable odors wafting about and no bathroom for 12 hours!
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| Megan, still smiling on the sleeper bus. (We had not left yet) |
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| The first group shot, taken about a week later. |
Ha long Bay, or not...
Megan, Michelle and I have done so
well keeping each other entertained while in Vietnam that our first new friends
here didn’t come along until the day we were supposed to go to Ha Long bay. That’s right, supposed to. We tried to take a boat trip out to Ha Long
bay on Friday night. Unfortunately, after the four-hour bus ride to the coast
we waited for three more hours only be told the trip was canceled due to “weather.” They claimed it was too windy to safely take
boats out. Simply out of curiosity, we asked about the
wind speed. The reply? 6 to 8 knots.
What?!?! Okay, maybe weather was
mildly unpleasant on shore, and it was a little windy (much more than 6-8 knots
by my estimate), but can’t we at least tool around the harbor a little? Apparently there was a accident a couple years
ago where a boat capsized, and six tourists died. They get nervous, I guess.
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The closest we got to our Halong Bat cruise.
L-R: Sam, Katy, Megan, Michelle, Steve |
So, no Ha Long Bay and no boat ride,
but we were with a fun group of people.
Perhaps defeated this time in fact, but never defeated in spirit, we had
a rowdy bus ride back to Hanoi and all spent the evening together.
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Party bus back to Hanoi
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| This pretty much sums up the evening. |
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| Group shot in the bar. |
Oh yeah, and then there's this guy.............
We're not sure who his is, but he is a very strange man who shows up along the way quite frequently.
